Nymor Martell
Nymor Martell is the current ruling Prince of Dorne. The first-born child of Princess Arianne Martell, Nymor is most well-known as the first Prince of Dorne to depose his predecessor. He is 66 years of age, and rules from House Martell's seat of Sunspear. Appearance Nymor is approximately 5'9" tall, with thick black curls shot with white hairs, and weathered olive skin with countless creases at his eyes and mouth. He walks with a cane after having broken his leg in 365AC, and is reputed to rarely smile, if ever at all. History In 306AC Nymor was born as a result of an arrangement to appease the lords of Dorne; having lost severe numbers in the first War for the Stepstones, Arianne Martell was wedded to a knight of House Yronwood, Ser Cletus Yronwood. It was not for many years later in their marriage that the Princess finally fell with child, and soon Nymor was followed by his younger sister, Tysane. The siblings' upbringing was marked by their mother's grief for the loss of their father, who died mere weeks after Tysane's birth in 307AC during the War of the Marches. They were for the most part raised by members of the household rather than their mother herself, though Arianne's paranoia and suspicious mannerisms passed onto her son in the years to come. For many years of his youth, Nymor spent time among the soldiers of Dorne, learning the finesse required for spear and sword. It is said the Prince's unyielding, martial manner of conducting court came from his time among the Dornish spears, and though Prince Nymor never saw warfare himself, he remained ever vigilant, counted each and every slight against his honour, and never forgot the words of his house. In the absence of the warfare he so dearly lusted for, Nymor put his time into maintaining the infrastructure of Dorne and Sunspear. Where his mother could not conduct court he held it with the strictest contempt for time-wasters and the whisperers of intelligence Arianne had so gladly entertained; he replaced them with men of arms, ladies of good repute, and lords whose power were the key to Arianne's eventual upheaval. Usurper of Sunspear When a small disagreement about land rights between Hellholt and Vaith fell to the Princess to decide, Arianne declared the trial a farce and attempt on the life of her children, and took the heads of both quarrelling lords. The move outraged Dorne and the Seven Kingdoms, and for the first time in many a year, House Martell's grasp on their realm was in question. A small council was called in secret by Prince Nymor, Arianne’s heir; invited were the nobility of every corner of Dorne, including the mourning houses Qorgyle and Vaith, and near every other Lord in the region. Though he had not initially been invited, the now elderly Prince Oberyn interrupted the council himself; Prince Nymor had been frightened of the consequences of Arianne’s favourite uncle in attendance, but Prince Oberyn was quick to voice his opinion in favour of deposing the ruling Princess. In 330AC, Arianne Martell was lead by force from Sunspear in the night so to avoid attention, but the Princess yowled and screamed the entire journey to the Water Gardens. It was there she was imprisoned for the second time in her life, guarded constantly by a rotation of knights who found no appeal to the ageing Princess’ attempts at seduction. Without the Princess in the Sun Seat, Dorne was able to return to relative normality; at an attempt at reconciliation, Prince Nymor took the beautiful Lady Lorella Qorgyle as his wife, and the young Edwin Vaith as his squire; his sister Princess Tysane Martell was wedded to the Lord of Vaith as a further show of faith. Prince of Dorne Nymor and Lorella's marriage was not one of love, but the arrangement was not loveless. They had five children, four of whom survived infancy; Prince Qyle Martell, Princess Rhya Martell, Princess Priya Martell, and Prince Qorin Martell. In an attempt to further foster better relations with the Stormlands, Prince Nymor received Lady Marya Baratheon as his cupbearer in 350AC, while his son Prince Qorin squired below Lord Baratheon in Storm's End. Though the Prince had other matches in mind for his eldest child, Prince Qyle and Lady Marya became fast friends and young lovers during her time in Sunspear; Lord Baratheon was glad to see his sister so happy with a rare love match for a betrothal, and gladly consented to the marriage. The Prince and his new wife had two children, and until the second war at the Stepstones, lived a blissfully happy life together. Grazdan the Gruesome In early 360AC, a sellsword by the name of Grazdan was said to have cleaned the Stepstones of pirates and monsters for the sake of the Archon of Tyrosh's prize whore; an act done of love, it was reviled by many, but admired in Dorne, especially after Grazdan's beloved new wife installed laws protecting women and prostitutes, policed the safe brothels on the islands, opened convents for older whores, and gave rapists the noose for their crimes. Traffic through the Stepstones and relations with the Free Cities had never been better, but when it was said a member of House Martell had sent for the Faceless Man who had killed Grazdan's wife in her bed, all progress and peace between the Stepstones and Dorne seemed to have never exist at all. Nymor persistently denied any part in Sapphire's death. Grazdan began by raiding the shores of the Broken Arm at first, razing Ghost Hill and devastating the villages and townships along the Northern coast. Prince Qyle insisted on leading the armies against the invaders himself, but Prince Nymor's paranoia kept the heir to Dorne close. While the majority of Grazdan's numbers laid waste to the cities of the Sea of Dorne, he had distracted the Dornish armies from the capital. On a night in 365AC, Grazdan himself lead a retinue of men who infiltrated the city, and kidnapped every member of the ruling family. Those who lived to tell what had occurred in Sunspear spread the word immediately, begging for help from every corner of the realm. The maester of House Martell was the one who got word to King's Landing first, where King Maekar II responded immediately. The people of Dorne appealed to all men of honour to take up their cause and rescue the hostages, as well as to extract revenge on those responsible. A huge undertaking followed, as lords from throughout the Seven Kingdoms were called to King’s Landing to begin preparing an invasion force, and for the second time in under a century, House Targaryen called it’s banners to attack the Stepstones; not as conquerors this time, but as liberators. House Baratheon, House Velaryon, and near all small houses of Dorne were invaluable in the liberation, offering swords and ships wherever they were needed. In the bloody fighting that followed, many men died, but, after storming the shores of Bloodstone, the supporters of the Martells found themselves quickly outnumbered. Pirates and sellswords had riddled the shorelines with caverns and hidey holes, caches of weapons in the most inconspicuous of places. The first attempt to win back the Prince and his family failed miserably, but they were not turned away from their rescue just yet. A swift fleet of Crownlander ships and soldiers fortified the Dornishmen’s battle, and in the early mists of the morning, Bloodstone was little more than its name. Princess Priya's eldest child, Arian Sand, escaped the captivity of Grazdan's men; armed with little more than a spear and shield bearing the blood of his foes, it was said young Arian single-handedly pushed through the garrison remaining to guard his family, funnelling the men into the close quarters, and fought through to the beach with uncontrolled ferocity. He was knighted on the bloody shores by the then-Prince Aemon Targaryen for his skill in battle and honourable attempt to preserve the lives of his cousins and grandfather, and some months after the Battle on the Stepstones, was awarded a position on a Kingsguard. Prince Nymor and his grandchildren had survived the fray with severe injuries, but Lady Marya Baratheon died in the night, suspected to have been raped and used as a hostage before Grazdan’s ultimate fall. The bodies of Prince Qyle, Princess Rhya, Princess Priya, and Prince Qorin served as a grim reminder for Dorne and all of the Seven Kingdoms of the price paid for the success of the fight. Nymor has remained a grim, constant, and vigilant presence in Sunspear's court ever since, determined to continue his line. Following the death of King Maekar II Targaryen, Prince Nymor sent his heiress, Princess Aliandra Martell to King's Landing in his stead. Family Princess Arianne Martell (b. 276AC, d. 332AC), Lady of Sunspear, wife of Ser Cletus Yronwood * Prince Nymor Martell (b. 306AC), and his wife, Lady Lorella Qorgyle (b. 311AC, d. 360AC) ** Prince Qyle Martell (b. 331AC, d. 365AC), and his wife, Lady Marya Baratheon (b. 334AC, d. 365AC) *** Princess Aliandra Martell (b. 350AC), and her husband Lord Morgan Jordayne (b. 342AC, d. 369AC) **** Prince Garin Martell (b. 367AC) *** Prince Tryston Martell (b. 353AC), a knight and Aliandra's sworn sword *** Princess Saria Martell (b. 354AC) *** Prince Horan Martell (b. 361AC) *** Prince Drusan Martell (b. 364AC) ** Princess Rhya Martell (b. 332AC, d. 365AC), a septa of the Faith ** Princess Priya Martell (b. 333AC, d. 365AC), and her paramour, a Braavosi merchant lord *** Ser Arian Sand (b. 348AC), a knight of the Kingsguard *** Tya Sand (b. 350AC) *** Yandry Sand (b. 351AC) ** Prince Qorin Martell (b. 338AC, d. 365AC) and his wife, Lady Catrin Dalt (b. 339AC, d. 364AC) *** Prince Quentyn Martell (b. 355AC) *** Princess Yllsa Martell (b. 355AC) *** Princess Tysa Martell (b. 364, stillborn) * Princess Tysane Martell (b. 307AC) and her husband, Lord Dareon Vaith (b. 299AC, d. 368AC) Category:House Martell Category:Characters from Dorne